The saga begins when Scrooge is ten years old in 1877 and ends with meeting his nephew Donald Duck at the time of his premiere story in Christmas 1947. In-between, the series tells the story of how a poor lad from Scotland traveled the globe building up a fortune and financial empire by being smarter than the smarties and tougher than the toughies to become the richest man in the world, having every possible adventure a Self-Made Man could find. The series gives us our best look at Scrooge's family — his parents, uncles, and sisters — and shows how he met enemies like Flintheart Glomgold and the Beagle Boys, friends like Theodore Roosevelt, and Mentors like Howard Rockerduck that helped mold him into the Anti-HeroJerk with a Heart of Gold we've known him as. The epic is packed with Character Development, adventure, Continuity Nods, Leaning on the Fourth Wall, a miraculous amount of violence and innuendo that got past the radar, and of course Don Rosa's trademark Scenery Porn and insane amount of historical, geographical, and cultural research.

The 12 original chapters were released in issues of Uncle Scrooge from April 1994 through February 1996. They were published together in an anthology in June 2005. In the spirit of Disney's love of midquels, in September 2006, Gemstone released The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion, which turned 7 of Don Rosa's previously published Uncle Scrooge stories (and 1 brand new story) into Midquels since they were Flashbacks about more adventures from Scrooge's glory days... essentially Arc Welding within Arc Welding. Most of the midquels use a Framing Device of Donald, Huey, Dewey, and Louie unearthing Scrooge's trunk of memorabilia in his money bin and asking questions about the stories behind its contents, prompting said flashbacks.

Most of the stories (including the midquels) were released in Europe before appearing in the American Uncle Scrooge series; for example, the original twelve chapters appeared in countries including Denmark, Germany, and Norway in 1992. The release dates given below give the first publication and then its American equivalent.

This work earned Don Rosa the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in 1995 for "Best Serialized Story".

An Aesop: Hard work and perseverance pays off! Don Rosa himself was shocked and touched to receive letters from people who would tell him that reading Life and Times inspired them in Real Life to work hard for their dreams and to not be afraid of failure. Not bad for a (technically) children's comic about an anthropomorphic duck.

Continuity Porn: Don Rosa attempts to explain every reference that Cark Barks had Scrooge make to his life before coming into contact with his nephews. The series therefore provides references and call backs to numerous stories written by Carl Barks. For example, the end of the first story, The Last of the Clan McDuck, has Scrooge's father give him a watch and a set of golden teeth. The watch had shown up years previously in Carl Barks' Heirloom Watch. That same story also references Barks' Whiskervilles, The Horseradish Story, and The Old Castle's Secret. He even managed to take some stories into account that he did not personally enjoy too much, such as Voodoo Hoodoo, in which Scrooge McDuck, who is touted as having made his entire fortune square, fondly remembers the time he cheated an African tribe out of their land. Other stories are outright ignored, such as The Magic Hourglass, which implied that the titular hourglass was responsible for Scrooge's wealth through luck.

Gold Fever: Kicks in for Scrooge at the end of The New Laird of Castle McDuck

Good Bad Translation: The first two chapters of Life and Times were never translated in Egypt. The other ten chapters were published over a period of 10 consecutive weeks, starting from March 1996, and were titled Scrooge's Youth.

In The Buckaroo of the Badlands, Scrooge befriends a young man who chose to become a cowboy instead of continuing his political career. Scrooge inspires him to go back into politics. The story's last panel reveals this fellow's initials to be T. R..

In The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff, Scrooge meets a lot of legends of The Wild West: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, P. T. Barnum, and the Daltons. And a Native American who escaped from his reservation and now performs in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. He is in the end revealed to be none other than Geronimo, the famous Apache leader. (He does mention his name well before the reveal though. But it is not the name he became famous with, and therefore a Genius Bonus. Scrooge, by the way, recognizes this name immediately.)

Horse of a Different Color: Scrooge McDuck has established his badass credentials several times with these. When he was left for dead in the South African Savanna, he went berserk against all the animals trying to eat or kill him and cowed a lion into becoming his steed. In Australia, he encountered an Emu and used it instead, at least until it ran off from an approaching flood. In the Klondike, he has used moose for transport on more than one occasion. In Hearts of the Yukon, we also briefly see a rider arrive into Dawson City on a bear—but even he's scared of Samuel Steele.

Idea Bulb: Parodied in both The Vigilante Of Pizen Bluff and Hearts of the Yukon, where an oil lamp being turned on by hand appears as a substitute, even though Scrooge already had an encounter with an actual lightbulb in Raider Of The Copper Hill.

I See Dead People: As a young lad, Scrooge was the only one the ghosts of the McDuck clan would reveal themselves to, particularly Quackly.

I Should Write a Book About This: Scrooge's sister Matilda made a scrapbook of letters, artifacts, and newspaper clippings from all his adventures, which appears on the first page of the original chapters and which the boys are looking at in the midquels.

Jerkass Fašade: Both Scrooge and Goldie, which is why they never get together.

Literal Ass-Kicking: Notably during the end of The Empire Builder From Calisota, where young Donald Duck delivers a kick to Scrooge's ass. At the conclusion of The Richest Duck in the World, Scrooge recalls this and kicks Donald's ass in return, solidifying his Adrenaline Makeover.

Love Hurts: Scrooge and Goldie, no matter how much they both try to deny it.

Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Scrooge is just a scrawny duck who, by the time he reaches his prime, is capable of taking out fifty or some enemies with his bare hands.

Protagonist Journey to Villain: The entire series captures Scrooge's development through life, how his experiences and hardships shaped him from an optimistic youth to the money-hungry villain he was in his debut, and his eventual redemption. If you pay particular attention to the portraits of the main albums, he gets progressively meaner with each portrait until he ends up a broken old man.

Rags to Riches: The series depicts Scrooge's ascension from a poor boy from Glasgow to the planet's richest duck.

Spiritual Successor: Don Rosa and fans consider A Letter from Home, where Scrooge returns to Castle McDuck, reconciles with Matilda, and finds a message his father left for him before he died as a sequel/conclusion to the series. (It's also a much better Templar treasure hunt than The Da Vinci Code. And it's only 34 pages long!)

It is also a sequel to Crown Of The Crusader Kings, which is itself a sequel to The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone.

Symbol Swearing: Even printed on a newspaper at the end of "The Sharpie of the Culebra Cut" and a sign during "The Richest Duck in the World". Not present in "Of Ducks, Dimes, and Destinies" or "The Last of the Clan McDuck".

Violent Glaswegian: Don't make Scrooge angry... or Hortense, while we're at it (Donald got his temper from both sides of the family!)

Voodoo Zombie: Bombie the Zombie was enchanted by African voodoo priest Foola Zoola to get revenge on Scrooge McDuck for attacking his tribe and stealing his land. Scrooge, who strongly resembled his future nephew Donald, changed his appearance back just enough to confuse Bombie to leave him be. However, Bombie continued to pursue Scrooge for years as the curse was never lifted, and eventually went after Donald in Carl Barks's original story.

Was It Really Worth It?: Scrooge's quest for riches is accompanied with many losses, which at the end raises the question of if becoming the richest duck in the world had any sense after all.

Individual Chapters:

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Chapter 0: Of Ducks, Dimes, and Destinies

Released: Denmark -June 1995, United States - April 1996Dates:1877

The last story Don Rosa completed before the 12-part series proper, later included as a sort of Time Travelprequel. Inspired by hearing Scrooge relate the story of earning his #1 Dime to his grand-nephews while she's spying on him, Magica de Spell uses a Time Travel candle to go back in time to the day Scrooge earned the dime so she can get it before he ever owns it. After some hijinks with Scrooge's father and Howard Rockerduck, she succeeds, and it's while waiting for the return trip to start that she realizes the implications — by preventing Scrooge from ever owning the dime, it's no longer the first coin owned by the richest duck in the world, therefore it's worthless to her, and she's forced to give it back to him and return to the future empty-handed, causing a net difference of zero. Tough luck, but You Can't Fight Fate.

This chapter provides examples of:

Early-Bird Cameo: Howard Rockerduck, who would return for an important role in "The Robber of the Copper Hill."

Episode 0: The Beginning: Made after the series concluded, but given the "Chapter 0" moniker because it was a retelling of the first chapter detailing Magica's involvement during her time travel.

Would Hit a Girl: Tired of running away, Magica pointed out to Fergus she's a woman, (mistakenly) believing that's be enough to keep him from hitting her. She didn't know Scrooge's greed was a family trait.

Chapter One, of course, tells how a 10-year-old Scrooge first went into business with a shoeshining kit his father made him for his birthday and earned his #1 Dime — an American dime that was worthless to him in Scotland and made him vow to be "sharper than the sharpies and tougher than the toughies" so that he would never be cheated again. After three years of shining shoes, selling firewood and peat, and protecting the McDuck ancestral castle from the McDucks' rival clan the Whiskervilles, 13-year-old Scrooge leaves home to seek his fortune in America.

This chapter provides examples of:

Badass Creed: Scrooge's promise to be tougher than the toughies, smarter than the smarties and to make his fortune square.

Call-Forward: The Whiskervilles were about to uncover Sir Swamphole McDuck's alternate entrance to the castle's dungeons, as well as Scrooge's ancestors discussing if Sir Quackly should have shown him the hidden treasure, which would be discovered by Scrooge and his nephews in the Barks story The Old Castle's Secret, about 70 years later.

Dead All Along: The kind duck who presents the McDuck's history to Scrooge is actually the ghost of Quackly McDuck.

Didn't Think This Through: Quackly McDuck sealed himself into a wall with the Templars' treasure in his eagerness to hide it.

The Law of Conservation of Detail: Pay attention at the feet of young Scrooge's castle guide. You'll notice said guide is missing his shadow, which hints on his true nature of a ghost. Said ghost is one of Scrooge's ancestors.

A Lesson in Defeat: Fergus sets up his son to be given an american (thus worthless in Scotland) dime after hard work so that he learns to not be too trusting. It actually inspires Scrooge his Badass Creed.

Pintsized Powerhouse: The McDuck were all runts but fearsome warriors too. Being very small when armor wasn't designed to let you see below you was a nice bonus.

Post-Victory Collapse: Scrooge has to clean a pair of boots so dirty, it takes him half an hour and he nearly faints afterward from the effort.

Quicksand Sucks: The highlands contain quicksands, but the Whiskervilles, frightened by the fake ghost of Quackly McDuck, run too fast to even notice them.

Riches to Rags: After the McDuck were driven out of their castle, Seafoam McDuck lost the family's fortune because of a disatrous trading ship sinking.

"Scooby-Doo" Hoax: The Hound that originally drove away the McDucks from their land were the Whiskervilles in disguise, in an attempt to get the land. They've kept the hoax up for centuries for the day when the McDucks finally fail to pay the taxes on the land and they can buy it.

Scrooge also drives the Whiskervilles away from the castle by making his own hoax. He loads the armor of Sir Quackie with peat and lights it on fire, pretending that the faming ghost of Quackly is angered by the Whiskervilles' presence.

Released: Denmark- August 1992, United States- June 1994Dates:1880-1882

Scrooge's first American venture is with his Uncle Angus "Pothole" McDuck on his riverboat in New Orleans. The two of them go on Scrooge's first treasure hunt for a sunken ship in the Mississippi, the Drennan Whyte, with some help from Gyro Gearloose's grandfather, Ratchet Gearloose. In the process, Scrooge meets (and names) his first generation of Beagle Boys. Their next meeting two years later ends with the destruction of the riverboat Scrooge bought from his uncle. Out of options in the riverboat business and still no profit to show for it, 15-year-old Scrooge moves West. (Meanwhile, his Uncle Pothole goes into the dime store novel business.)

The fisherman stating "I bin ta three state fairs, two rodeos, an'a picnic, but that was the dangdest thang I ever seed!" His companion also reacts to "picnic" being on his list.

Call-Forward: Angus chastises Scrooge for keeping a coin just for sentimental value, joking that he'd end up with a bin full of coins. It's a reference to, and inspires Scrooge's future money bin.

Chekhov's Gun: The Sawyer, trees trapped at the bottom of the Mississipi and which can violently spring out of the water, are introduced early and of course have some use at the end of the story.

Contrived Coincidence: Scrooge encounters a member of the Gearloose family and the Beagle Boys in Louisville. Later he winds up living alongside them in Duckburg, all three parties having decided to settle there completely independently of each other.

Cool Uncle: Angus McDuck is this to Scrooge. Subverted in that he pays his nephew a meager 30 cents a day.

Creator Provincialism: Why does Scrooge go to Louisville? Because that's where Don Rosa's from, so why not? That, and it really was one of the major ports of the Ohio river at the time.

Dramatic Unmask: Parodied, Scrooge exposes the Beagle Boys as wanted felons by taking off the masks that only covers the area around their eyes.

Eureka Moment: Ratchet manages to save himself and Scrooge from a boiler explosion by having the idea of hiding inside another boiler and using cotton to cushion themselves.

Even Evil Has Standards: Porker Hoggs is an antagonist but doesn't welsh on a deal. The Beagle Boys do. However, even the Beagle Boys disapprove of Angus when he seemingly is ready to let his nephew die for another treasure. Blackheart points out that he too would let his kin die if he could get rich, though.

Foreshadowing: Pothole tells Scrooge he'll pay him 30 cents a day to work at his boat. Scrooge's reaction is to get an entertained look on his face and ponder "A man paying his own nephew only 30 cents a day to help him hunt treasure! Frugal... very frugal!" Donald apparently has Pothole to blame for his low salaries working with his uncle.

Generation Xerox: Uncles hiring their nephews as sidekicks for dangerous, exciting adventures must be a McDuck family tradition.

Gold Fever: Scrooge and Angus seek out a stash of government gold worth 100,000$.

Hello, [Insert Name Here]: The future Beagle Boys are looking for a new gang name, but it is Scrooge who unwittingly aptizes them by calling them "Beagle Boys", which the thugs like.

The Magic Poker Equation: Subverted, Angus deliberately cheats in a very important hand of poker, and better than his opponent Porker Hoggs by having five aces in his hand.

Mucking in the Mud: The Mississipi and by extension the sunken ship hiding the treasure, are very muddy.

Na´ve Newcomer: The young Scrooge is this, being inexperienced enough so that the first man he meets in Louisville steals his luggage.

No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: When Scrooge and Angus find the treasure, Scrooge is a little disappointed to have become rich so rapidly and through luck rather than work. He doesn't keep the treasure for long.

Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: Averted, as with Porker Hog and Uncle Pothole's game demonstrates, cheating is not only commonplace, but it's considered rude not to. When Pothole beats him at cards (having 5 aces), Porker is more angry that his trick card device got jammed, and everyone just has a laugh at his expense.

Paper-Thin Disguise: The Beagle Boys surprise Scrooge by disguising as old ladies. Scrooge remarks that the moustache should have tipped him off.

Riches to Rags: Scrooge temporarily manages a lucrative business before the Beagle Boys manage to ruin him and Scrooge now only has his family heirlooms and a few dollars to his name.

You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The second Porker Hog no longer has anything to offer the Beagle Boys, they renege on their deal with him, and toss him overboard to take the Dilly Dollar Treasure for themselves.

Chapter 3: The Buckaroo of the Badlands

Released: Denmark- November 1992, United States-August 1994Dates:1882

After a short encounter with Jesse James, Scrooge finds himself a cowboy in Montana protecting a prize steer from cattle rustlers, the McVipers. He hopes to gain his fortune as the manager of a ranch in the future, but for now, he gains the nickname Buck McDuck, a friendwhom he recommends go back into politics, and a tough but ornery horse he names after his similar-tempered sister, Hortense, who will be around for a few chapters.

Bizarre Seasons: When it rains in the Rocky Mountains, trouts can swim in it.

Cattle Baron: Scrooge meets one immediatly after falling off the train, and would end up spending the next few years learning the cattle trade.

Chase Scene: A hilarious one where everything chases everyone at the same time, namely a bison wearing a frightening dinosaur skull chase horrified Indians, a bear chases the McVipers, and Scroog is trying to rein in his bull.

Cowboy: The working type, those who guard and guide cattle. Scrooge becomes one in this chapter.

Cowboy Episode: One of the few chapters featuring the Wild West and genuine cow boys.

Fingore: Scrooge tricks Jesse James into thinking there's a treasure hidden in his dentures. When Jesse tries to reveal it... *TUMP*

Rousing Speech: Roosevelt delivers one to a down-on-his-luck Scrooge, who had been feeling down by repeated failure. He reassures Scrooge's valour and rekindles the ambition within him.

The Rustler: The McVipers try to steal a prized bull who was guarded by Scrooge.

They Have the Scent!: Wandering Indians advise Scrooge to follow the McVipers through their foul odor.

Train Job: Jesse James and his gang try to rob the train in which Scrooge is travelling. It doesn't take long for Scrooge to disable them and force them to flee.

Chapter 3 B: The Cowboy Captain of the Cutty Sark

Released: Sweden - December 1998, United States - February 1999Dates:1883

During his stint as a Montana cowboy, Scrooge takes a trip on the famous Cutty Sark clipper to deliver two longhorn bulls to the sultan of Djokja in Java for an annual bullteam race. When Scrooge's bulls are stolen, his efforts to get them back results in "a Scottish cowboy steam[ing] into port on a run-aground ship"... and subsequently losing all the money from his sale in paying fees, fines, and bills for the damages caused on this adventure. (Apparently, this was in the days before Hero Insurance.)

This chapter provides examples of:

The Bus Came Back: Scrooge runs into Ratchet again, who is trying to use geothermic energy to power his latest invention, a prototype car.

Off-Model: One panel is colored so that Scrooge is wearing his trademark red coat, even though he doesn't get it until The Billionaire Of Dismal Downs.

"Shaggy Dog" Story: For Captain Moore — throughout the story, he asks his crew for his camera, and when they finally get it out for a photo opportunity, it gets busted right before he could take a picture.

Also for Scrooge himself - The enormous stampede Scrooge led into town caused enough damage to warrant hefty fines. The authorities had no claim on the protocar either, as Scrooge had plunged the only prototype into the harbor.

The Stoic: Captain Moore, until the last panel he appears in. Even his assistant is caught by surprise by the sudden change of expression.

Released: Denmark- January 1993, United States- October 1994Dates:1884-1885

The end of the cattle boom in The Wild West means yet another career change for Scrooge: prospecting. He likes his chances with copper mining since he strikes his claim just when some new-fangled invention called electricity causes a demand for copper. While working his homestead near the Anaconda Hill Copper Works ("the richest hill on Earth"), he meets millionaire Self-Made Man Howard Rockerduck, who, to the disdain of his wife and Spoiled Brat son (one John D. Rockerduck) who have forgotten his humble beginnings, teaches him the art of prospecting. But Wait, There's More!

Rockerduck: This man has a homestead on land where the Anaconda copper vein is only five feet deep! The Law of Apex of 1849 says that whoever owns the land where an ore vein is closest to the surface owns the entire vein! Scrooge McDuck owns the Anaconda Copper Mine!

After a wild fight with claim jumpers (the first of many in his life), Scrooge believes he's finally found the key to his fortune, until he gets a telegram from home urgently asking him to bring money to help with a crisis. Unable to wait to turn a limitless profit from the copper mine, he sells it back to the original owners and returns to his family with the money, taking away one important lesson from his experience:

Amusing Injuries: Scrooge is sent to cut off barbed wires off-screen, but when he appears, he is covered in sharp barbed wires. Although Scrooge explicitely says to hurts like hell, it's Played for Laughs. Another instance is Scrooge getting electrocuted.

Easily Overheard Conversation: Everyone in town somehow overhears Howard saying to Scrooge that he needs to put the claim on his land to get rich.

End of an Age: The age of migrating great cow herds has ended as more people have claimed for themselves the lands on which cows feed.

Green-Eyed Monster: All of Scrooge's friends in the town immediately turn on him for striking it rich. It's one of many bitter lessons Scrooge will have to learn.

Hard Work Hardly Works: Scrooge works hard to mine for copper, but with no skill or luck, his attempt at finding copper are unsuccessful.

Hilariously Abusive Childhood: John Roderduck is a spoiled and unpleasant brat, no wonder the prospect of his father whipping him with a horsewhip comes off as hilarious instead of shocking.

Idle Rich: Howard Roderduck's wife and son are this. They actually look down on him for daring to *gasp*, work with his hands.

Loophole Abuse: Howard tries to get Scrooge a claim to a very rich copper vein due to an obscure rule stipulating the person who owns land where the vein is closest to the surface gets the whole vein.

Mentor Archetype: Howard Roderduck becomes a mining teacher to Scrooge, and teaches him everything down to how to swing his pickaxe the good way.

One-Duck Army: Scrooge proves himself worthy of this trope by fighting hundreds of miners to the last.

Sadistic Choice: Scrooge is offered 10,000$ for his copper vein, a ridiculoously low price. However a telegraph from his family urging him to come back home forces him to either abandon his family to get rich in the long term or take the 10,000$ he needs to travel right now at the cost of his future fortune. Scrooge chooses the 10,000$.

Schmuck Bait: Scrooge baits a bunch of miners who want his claim into his cabin by taunting them from seemingly inside. They are all trapped inside by Scrooge, who kicks the cabin into a nearby river.

Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: After being shocked by a live wire Scrooge was swinging on, faithful steed Hortense has this thought before marching off in a huff.

Hortense:(Thinking) I quit! Effective immediately!

"Shaggy Dog" Story: After literally having to fight off an army of people, Scrooge must abandon his claim to wealth and return to Scotland because his family needs him at the moment.

Spoiled Brat: Rockerduck's son, John. Little does Scrooge know that the annoying little twerp will one day become his Nr 2 rival, though unlike Glomgold, they remain business rivals only, rather than bitter enemies.

Vine Swing: Scrooge tries to go ahead of a mob of people by swinging above them with an electrical wire.

Worthless Yellow Rocks: In this case, Scrooge discovering copper is at first treated with contempt. However the news about electricity and the subsequent explosion in copper's value triggers a town-wide copper rush.

Chapter 5: The New Laird of Castle McDuck

Released: Denmark- March 1993, United States- December 1994Dates:1885

Scrooge arrives back in Dismal Downs just as his family is about to lose their land and castle if they don't pay the back taxes from falling behind in the payments (the clan has struggled to maintain ownership of the castle even if the demon hound has made it too dangerous to live there). Scrooge's bank draft from the sale of his copper mine saves the castle, his destiny to become "the cheapest, stingiest, most miserly, turnip-squeezingest, penny-pinching tightwad on Earth" saves his life (the dead should not interfere in the land of the living), and the ghosts of Scrooge's ancestors save him when he's nearly killed in a duel with the Whiskervilles. No Big Deal. Now the McDucks can move back into the castle, and Scrooge can move on with making his fortune... this time, in gold.

This chapter provides examples of:

Armored Coffins: When Scrooge falls into a pond with his armor, it becomes a weight pulling him to the bottom of the water and almost results in Scrooge dying.

Chekhov's Gun: Averted; Scrooge mentions a cream cheese sandwich early in the story, but it doesn't serve anything. However Scrooge's number 1 dime does save him from drowning.

Corrupt Cop: The sheriff Wenton Whiskerville tries to steal 10,000 from the McDuck then murder Scrooge, but seeing the ghosts of the McDucks frightens him away.

Death by Gluttony: Sir Roast ate himself to death after raiding William the Lion's pantry.

Dramatic Thunder: When Scrooge reappears in front of Argus, thunder and lightning accompany his return to make him look badass.

Duel to the Death: Argus Whiskerville challenges Scrooge to a duel because of the humiliation of having been frightened by a fake ghost engineered by the latter. Thus both don armor and take up their swords and battle.

Fluffy Cloud Heaven: The McDuck clan's dead ancestors seem to all reside in it. They also play golf in here.

Harmless Electrocution: Scrooge, in a moment of idiocy, points his sword upward in the middle of a storm, and gets hit by lightning. He comes out rather unharmed.

This might in fact be partially justified by the fact that he was wearing metal armour at the time which could function as a kind of Faraday cage. The problem is of course that he wasn't wearing the lower half of the suit, so the electricity would still have to pass through his legs. But the lightning could arguably have missed his vital organs thanks to the metal, giving him a better chance of survival. Good enough for comic book logic at least.

Impact Silhouette: When the Whiskerville are frightened away by the ghost of the McDuck clan, they crash through a door and leave their silhouette on the door, which is several inches thick of hard wood.

I Take Offense to That Last One!: Or rather, to everything but that last one. Fergus and Scrooge are very upset to be called "liars" and "cowards," but they don't mind "tightwads."

It Runs in the Family: Scrooge confronts some of his ancestors, and avarice seems to be also an ancestral trait.

Locked into Strangeness: Seeing a ghost whitened the Whiskervilles' hair. Seeing the ghost of all the ancestors renders them bald.

Near-Death Experience: Scrooge seemingly dies, and is sent to Heaven. Quackly McDuck is appalled that such a promising young lad would die like this and works to send him back.

The Nose Knows: Scrooge learned from his meeting with Indians and tracks Argus by his scent.

Not Too Dead to Save the Day: When the Whiskervilles plan on down right murdering Scrooge for getting the best of them, the ghosts of Scrooge's ancestors appears on the walls around them to scare them off for good.

"The Reason You Suck" Speech: The ancestors are very judgemental toward Scrooge, mentioning his every failure, including future ones. Quackly however, retorts back with all the ancestors' own shortcomings.

Shout-Out: Scrooge's ending line "There's always another rainbow!" refers to Barks' oil painting Always Another Rainbow of Scrooge as a gold digger (which is the prospect Scrooge decides to pursue next).

Stay in the Kitchen: Fergus McDuck tells his brother to take "the women" home for their safety... including Hortense, who was shown to be their best fighter one page ago.

Chapter 6: The Terror of the Transvaal

Released: Denmark- May 1993, United States- February 1995Dates:1887-1889

Scrooge's first attempt at gold prospecting takes him to South Africa, where he meets a Boer also on his way to the Johannesburg goldfields who offers to be his guide. Scrooge awakens the next morning to find his new "friend" has vanished, stolen his supplies, and left him to perish out on the rand. Furious at being double-crossed, he makes his way to civilization in his typical badass fashion, finds the scoundrel, vents his anger in a Humiliation Conga, and throws him in jail. He doesn't strike it rich in the low-grade Transvaal soil and eventually packs up and leaves with the vow never to trust anybody again, thanks to a lesson from his least noble enemy yet, whatever-his-name-was note Flintheart Glomgold.

This chapter provides examples of:

Amoral Afrikaner: The thief who steals Scrooge's cart and abandon him in the middle of the savanna.

The Beast Master: Scrooge pressgangs a lion into serving as an emergency transport back to civilization.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Flintheart pretends to be an innocent duck stranded in the middle of the savanna as he plans to steal Scrooge's cart and abandon him in the middle of the savanna.

Bottomless Magazines: Averted. Scrooge fires exactly twelve shots from his two six shooters, and is clearly seen reloading afterwards.

Continuity Nod: The Kaffir de Gaffir gold mine opened during the episode. That was the gold mine Scrooge and Glomgold tried to outbid each other for in Carl Barks story "So Far and no Safari".

Cynicism Catalyst: This is the first confrontation from which Scrooge actually comes out worse than before. The betrayal he felt from someone who was pretending to be a friend turns him into a more distrustful and cold person. Illustrated by this line below:

Scrooge: Villains of a more noble ilk than you made me cautious and resourceful and scrappy...but you...you just made me mean!

Does Not Like Guns: Scrooge uses guns, but doesn't want to shoot anyone, even someone who stole from him.

Downer Ending: A mild one, but Scrooge's adventure in South Africa doesn't even result in getting money, and his encounter with Flintheart made him more jaded than optimistic.

Et Tu, Brute?: Scrooge feels all the more betrayed because, until then, all of his enemies were antagonistic from the start or neutral and it's the first time someone pretended to be his friend to take advantage of him.

The Farmer and the Viper: Glomgold steals all of Scrooge's supplies and abandoned him even after Scrooge saved his life. The trope is even mentioned:

Scrooge: I saved his life and shared my food with him, and this is how he repays me! What a... a viper!

Freudian Excuse: Glomgold is the reason Scrooge decided not to trust anybody. Until then, Scrooge never had an enemy who pretended to be a friend.

From Nobody to Nightmare: A talentless anonymous thief swears revenge on Scrooge, and in several years, will become one of Scrooge's archenemies.

Good Samaritan: Scrooge stops to help an Afrikaner tied to a bull, but soon sees how much his trust was rewarded.

Humiliation Conga: Scrooge's way of taking revenge on the thief who left him in the middle of the savanna before throwing him in prison.

Save the Villain: When Glomgold runs into the lion Scrooge rode into town, Scrooge laments, "Drat the luck! Now I gotta save his hide rather than tan it!"

Spit Take: Flintheart spits out his soda when Scrooge reappears in town.

Start of Darkness: Glomgold was a thief and a jerk even before running into Scrooge for the first time, but this encounter is what set him on the path to become the monstrous Corrupt Corporate Executive that will remain Scrooge's bitter enemy for the rest of their lives.

Taught by Experience: Scrooge is proud to have learned his ways in the field. After being betrayed by Flintheart, Scrooge doesn't even want to discuss it with him.

Ungrateful Bastard: Even after Scrooge saves his life, Glomgold betrays him the first chance he gets.

Unknown Rival: Glomgold is determined in the end to get revenge on Scrooge for humiliating him, but Scrooge just casually leaves him in jail without even bothering to learn his name.

Released: Sweden- December 1996, United States- October 1997Dates:1890

A prequel to the Carl Barks comic Return to Pizen Bluff. Scrooge reunites with his Uncle Pothole, who has become famous thanks to his novels about his adventures saving his nephew Scrooge... but anyway, the two McDucks join forces with P.T. Barnum, Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and a Native American guy named Gokhlayeh to track down the Dalton Gang when they rob Barnum's wild west show. Before the posse bids good-bye, lamenting the impending death of The Wild West, Scrooge has them all autograph one of the show's handbills, which Matilda McDuck later pasted into her scrapbook... and which the triplets determine contains a map to the Lost Dutchman's Mine on the back. Oh, Crap!!

Imagine Spot: When Uncle Pothole and Buffalo Bill enter an abandoned building with the Daltons hiding behind a doorway for an ambush, Dalton clones suddenly spring out from elsewhere and Pothole and Bill fight them off, with Bill's hair noticably turning darker. Cut to the Daltons still standing near the doorway with dumbfounded expressions, and back in the chaos, Uncle Pothole has suddenly become ridiculously muscular, while Buffalo Bill is decorated with honors and his hair is completely black. Everything suddenly returns to normal, where it is revealed that Pothole was just writing a dime novel draft on the fly. Especially noteworthy, since it depicts Pothole writing Marty Stu versions of himself and Bill in-story.

It Will Never Catch On: Uncle Pothole's idea for a new kind of magazine with "adventures told in a series of drawings, and the dialogue written into some kinda bubbles!"

Uncle Pothole's reaction once he learned the Native-American he's been insulting was Gokhlayeh aka Geronimo.

In present day, Scrooge has this reaction when he realizes that the old playbill he kept as a souvenir and is now glued to the scrapbook really IS the map to the Lost Dutchman Mine. This is a lead in to a later Don Rosa story.

The Reveal: Scrooge knew all along, but towards the end of the story, it's revealed that the old Indian warrior is actually Geronimo

Scrooge: No one would be interested in reading the adventures of a rough and tumble prospector like me.

Chapter 7: The Dreamtime Duck of the Never-Never

Released: Denmark- June 1993, United States- April 1995Dates:1893-1896

From Darkest Africa to Pizen Bluff to Kalgoorlie, Australia, Scrooge continues his quest for gold. But first, he saves an Aborigine wiseman from a bandit, and hears the legend of the Dreamtime. The wiseman also shows him the cave with the Dreamtime story painted and carved into its walls, along with a sacred opal the size of a melon. Scrooge then has to stop the bandit from stealing the relic, losing his #1 Dime in the process, and eventually gets a chance to steal the opal himself as the cave collapses so that no one would even discover the theft for a hundred years. After making his choice, he's rewarded by the miraculous return of his dime and inspiration from the last segment of the legend with pictures that look like the aurora borealis in the Yukon...

Scrooge says a throwaway line, "Great! Now I'm John Philip Sousa!", causing his Aborigine companion to call him "Jonflip Zooza" for the rest of the story (Scrooge never corrects him).

Averted in the Portuguese edition. He's called Benny Goodman (who was known as the King of Swing). That happens to be a rather awkward anachronism, though, as Benny Goodman wasn't even born in the timeframe of this story.

Animal Stereotypes: One legend narrates the tale of a sly dingo stealing an egg and a courageous platypus pursuing him.

Chekhov's Gun: The didjeridoo, which Scrooge uses to summon the dream cave, is also used as an emu call to permit his escape from said cave.

Chekhovs Legend: The legend painted into the walls of the dream cave is actually a retelling of Scrooge's own misadventure. Moreover several other paintings basically describe his future life as the richest duck in the world.

Giant Wall of Watery Doom: A flash flood coming from the nearby mountains threatens to drown Scrooge, and the wave is not only several times higher than Scrooge, it is also remarkable in that it covers the whole desert.

Kangaroo Pouch Ride: Scrooge uses a Kangaroo for transportation in order to get fast enough to the gold fields to grab a good claim. He is nevertheless too late though.

Men Are Uncultured: Scrooge is this at first, because he's only interested in getting rich and doesn't see the interest of archaelogy. That the legend he happens to read actually comes true convinces him that there is value in history and sets up his path to becoming a Cultured Badass.

Power Crystal: Jabiru's crystal can help him see the way, and indeed shows Scrooge the way to wealth, by making him see the boreal aurors of Alaska.

Sarcasm-Blind: Scrooge's aborigine companion actually believed Scrooge was "Jonflip". He also doesn't realize that the bushwhacker is intentionally stranding them.

Time Abyss: The dream cave's last visitor came 100 ago, respecting a rigorous cycle, and marks on the wall indicate that there were hundreds of visitors over time, making the cave paintings at least 20,000 years old. Even Scrooge is speechless at the ancienty of this tradition.

What You Are in the Dark: Nobody would know for a hundred years if you returned the opal or stole it. Scrooge returned it.note The image at the trope's page is about this example.

Chapter 8: The King of the Klondike

Released: Denmark- July 1993, United States- June 1995Dates:1896-1897

The beginning of Scrooge's glory days as a sourdough in the Klondike Gold Rush. "His exploits before this time were the dues he paid to make it this far," as Don Rosa puts it. "His past adventures each taught him lessons about work and endurance (and people) and were all preparations for this moment, when he would finally get rich from nothing but his own hard work, perseverance and know-how." But before Scrooge strikes it rich with his unearthing of the Goose Egg Nugget (another monetary memento he'll never spend) on his claim at White Agony Creek, he faces a minor setback when he's kidnapped by Soapy Slick and a bunch of thugs who push him towards his scariest Crowning Moment of Awesome faster than you can say "What a bunch of idiots!" One destroyed river barge and one thrown grand piano later, Scrooge is a legend in the Yukon...

Big "YES!": Scrooge ponders what he'll do if the big, muddy "rock" he found is gold: "Will clean air smell any sweeter? Will sunny days shine any brighter? Will starry nights hold any more wonder? Or will I lose all that? Do I really want to be... rich? (beat) YES!!!"

Berserk Button: Soapy Slick and his mooks taunt the chained Scrooge by reading letters from his parents (which he hadn't read himself yet) out loud, laughing at their misfortune. When Slick reveals that Scrooge's mother has passed away, hell breaks loose.

According to Scrooge himself during the events of Hearts Of the Yukon, the chimneys collapsed due to a timely boiler explosion, and he took out Soapy and his gang in the resulting commotion. Whether he's just trying to downplay the events or not is left to the viewer.

Corrupt Loan Shark: Soapy Slick is one of the few villains, alongside Flintheart, who has NO scruples or morals whatsoever, and even Glomgold would probably hesitate about mocking Scrooge for his mother's recent death.

Call-Forward: Goldie mentions that with all the "sourdoughs and their gold dust, I expect to be glittering by spring!"

Death Glare: A truly disturbing one by Scrooge, accompained by a "creeEEAAkkk" sound effect as he pulls his chains and colored either normally or with a fiery palette. His beak isn't completely shown, so his full expression is ambiguous.

Disaster Dominoes: "Six hours and many miles back down the trail later, in Skagway —"

The Dreaded: When Wyatt Earp realizes who he tried to bully into submission he's utterly scared and starts listing Scrooge's terrifying nicknames. Scrooge then lists a few others he earned outside the United States and remarks that Earp traveled very little.

The End of the Beginning: This chapter marks the end of Scrooge's quest to becoming rich, but readers know that there is much more to come.

Experienced Protagonist: Scrooge isn't the naive young duckling of the early chapters but a certified badass and survivalist who doesn't take crap from no one.

Fate Worse Than Death: "I need more cash, but I can't waste any more time earning it! I must resort to desperate and shameful means! I need to (*shudder*) get a loan!"

Flash Forward: Dawson City is introduced this way, contrasting the large city it would become later in the story from the two-building area it was at the dawn of the gold rush.

Gate Guardian: The locals of Dawson City fear a monster supposedly guarding the way to a hidden valley, but Scrooge discovers that it is only the preserved corpse of a mammoth standing thanks to the glacier around it.

Scenery Porn: White Agony Valley is a piece of gorgeous untampered nature, with surrounding mountains, rivers and creeks that are equally breathtaking.

Shrouded in Myth: The narration makes it clear that no one in Dawson fully knows what happened to Soapy's riverboat during Scrooge's epic rampage. "The whole incident was probably exaggerated in the many retellings that followed. Possibly, it didn't actually happen at all!"

In his last comic ever, only found (in English) in the Companion anthology, Don Rosa answers the question Carl Barks didn't even want to ask: What exactly happened between Scrooge McDuck and Glittering Goldie during the month they lived together on White Agony Creek? Oh, just some innuendo, constant fighting and insults, Unresolved Sexual Tension, denial, a visit from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, an incident with an Inevitable Waterfall, and getting rid of an Unwanted Rescue attempt, culminating in a night of wild, violent, destructive hatesex that makes Scrooge fearfully realize how vulnerable he is to his feelings for Goldie. The next morning, he sends her back to Dawson, sure that the woman with the coldest heart in the Yukon could never care about him anyway, both of them too proud to admit the truth.

This chapter provides examples of:

Adaptation Expansion: While the whole series is basically this for Carl Barks' invention and stories of Scrooge, Don Rosa in particular felt how, no matter how much he loved the story "Back to the Klondike" where Goldie and Scrooge's past relationship to her is introduced, it wasn't quite explained how they went from fighting and mistreating each other to acting like they had been lovers when meeting again as old people. Don Rosa used that unanswered question as inspiration for this story.

Anachronic Order: This chapter was written a whole ten years after Hearts of the Yukon. In fact, it's the last story Don Rosa wrote, as mentioned above.

Bowdlerize: The "Between the legs!" part has been watered down in some translations. In the Norwegian, for example, said line is kept, but Scrooge's wavering at his next line (realizing what he said) is removed, giving the indication that only Goldie got a suggestive meaning out of it, not Scrooge.

Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Inverted. When Goldie finds the piece of paper containing something Scrooge had been admiring every night, she excitedly opens it, only to find that it's "only a stupid lock of someone's—". She then pauses in shock, realizing the lock of hair is hers.

Freudian Slip: After kissing Scrooge in order to distract him so Bat Masterson can knock him out, Goldie mentions how "I've been waiting to do that for a month! Uh... see him knocked cold, I mean!"

Friend to All Living Things: Scrooge of all ducks is one in this chapter. When Goldie asks why he's living on beans and sourdough bread when the valley is full of game he could shoot, Scrooge explains he has an "agreement" with the animals: they don't eat him, so he doesn't eat them.

I Surrender, Suckers: Don Rosa tries to soften Scrooge's kidnapping of Goldie by showing she could have easily escaped (not to mention killed him) but let him take her so she could find his hidden gold claim and get a better opportunity to rob him blind.

Another interpretation is she used Xanatos Speed Chess to turn her kidnapping into a Xanatos Gambit. Whether or not she escapes she has little to lose and a lot to gain.

Oh, Crap!: Hilariously, both present-day Donald and Scrooge have this reaction to the boys asking Scrooge "what exactly happened" the month he and Goldie spent together at the cabin. Even as he couldn't know, Donald likely figured that a young Scrooge spending a month alone with a woman in said cabin probably wasn't all innocent...

Post-Kiss Catatonia: Goldie kisses Scrooge, and his shocked state gives the opportunity for Bat Masterson to knock him out. Cue him turning to Goldie to congratulate her, only to find her in the same state as well.

Retcon: In Carl Bark's story "Back to the Klondike", the flashback of Scrooge having tea with Goldie shows Scrooge looking at her with suspicion. When Don Rosa recreated the same flashback for this story, Scrooge is smiling at her instead. While this is being told, Donald is also seen in the background, giggling at how Scrooge was trusting of her "for some reason".

Save the Villain: Subverted (in the correct use of the term) after Scrooge saves Goldie from going over the Inevitable Waterfall. She tells him he has to go back to save "them", too... not the villains but the villains' sled dogs.

Slap-Slap-Kiss: Scrooge and Goldie eventually let out all their pent-up anger at each other before the famous implication that they end up having sex. They even provide the trope image.

Sleeping Single: This is established rather unnecessarily clearly early on — and apparently lasts until the last page.

Stalking Is Love: Goldie finds the fact that Scrooge has been spending every night for the last few weeks swooning over a lock of her hair that he keeps in a strongbox enough incentive to return when she had the perfect chance to escape with his gold and the deed to his claim.

Released: United States- September 1995. No previous publication. Dates:1898

Desperately wanting to see Scrooge again, Goldie decides there's only one logical thing to do: take advantage of the town's hatred for Scrooge and press charges against him for kidnapping her with the newly arrived Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Anyone could press charges against him but she was the only one who wasn't afraid of hitting Scrooge's Berserk Button). Scrooge makes the dangerous journey back to town in a storm as a wildfire burns out of control and almost meets up with Goldie in the burning Blackjack Saloon before a fire hose knocks him unconscious. Thanks to some help from his friend Casey Coot, and Goldie tricking the RCMP into thinking he saved her from the fire instead of the other way around, Scrooge clears his name, gets his gold claim reinstated, and heads back to White Agony Creek. On the way, a mountie delivers a letter to him from Goldie... which he refuses to open, preferring "to pretend that there's one person in this sorry world that I might... that I can..." Love Hurts, and pride conquers all.

Bait-and-Switch: Scrooge enters town and sees everyone run away at the mention that "Steele" is coming. Scrooge then meets a giant thug at a bar, riding a bear, speaking only in manly roars, eating his food with a bowie knife and so on. Suddenly the brute leaves, causing Scrooge to question this, to which the brute gets a terrified look and says "Didn't you hear? Steele's coming!"

Convection Schmonvection: The climax is Scrooge and Goldie staring each other down in a burning building. Granted, Goldie eventually ends up fainting... only to quickly reveal she was just faking.

Delicious Distraction: When Scrooge finally gets to Dawson, he's prepared to fight off the local toughs, per the norm. When the claim-jumpers learn that Scrooge arrived on a shipment of food, the starving men instantly forget about the duck.

Downer Ending: Leaves most readers wishing Don Rosa could have dismissed 'canon' and just let Scrooge and Goldie get together, dammit!

The Dreaded: The mere mention of the name "Steele" is enough to make any Yukon resident involved in anything shady flee in terror.

For Want of a Nail: Because of a random ice block to his head, Scrooge is knocked out cold and misses his opportunity to reunite with Goldie. One can only guess if his life might have turned out very different if not for that. Used to great Tear Jerker-effect in "The Dream of a Lifetime".

Furry Confusion: A group of men are shown fighting over bacon in the same chapter that has an anthropomorphic pig. There's also Soapy Slick.

Poor Communication Kills: Scrooge, why couldn't you just read the letter, you idiot?!note For those who don't like rhetorical questions, because he was afraid. After all, the only woman he ever loved was as cold-hearted and bitter as him. More harsh words could... well, we'll never know, now.

An excerpt from Don Rosa's first story to feature Glittering Goldie. After depositing one million dollars from his gold claim into the bank in Whitehorse, Alaska, Scrooge buys some land from Casey Coot, packs up a sled of supplies, and bids good-bye to White Agony Creek forever, planning to... do something (or meet someone) in Dawson and then settle down for good. Losing his sled and supplies (and almost his life) in a blizzard on Mooseneck Glacier, however, convinces him he's on the wrong track. Giving up his plan to settle down, Scrooge buys the Whitehorse Bank and begins his life as a businessman, from now on giving his heart to nothing except money.

Aborted Declaration of Love: It's heavily implied that the letter Scrooge lost in the ice was a love declaration or a marriage proposal to Goldie. Scrooge took the loss as a sign to focus entirely on his business ventures instead.

Anachronic Order: Written several years before any of the main Life and Times chapters.

Continuity Nod: Goldie mentions that she rebuilt the Black Jack ballroom into a tourist hotel with money she "came into a while back", a nod to Carl Barks' first ever story where she is introduced: "Back to the Klondike". In it, Scrooge eventually challenges Goldie to a digging contest to see who can find gold first, and (despite his claims) purposefully loses by leading Goldie to a spot he buried nuggets 50 years ago.

Villain Decay: Soapy Slick is still stuck in Dawson some 40 years after Scrooge left the area, and has been reduced to running a riverboat tour of the old gold rush territory. He's still a Jerkass of the highest order, but no longer possesses the resources to utilize it, and with the gold rush long over, his primary business is gone.

Worthless Treasure Twist: Scrooge lost his dogsled while leaving White Agony creek, which soon became frozen in the ice. However, he marked the spot so he could go back and retrieve it someday. Soapy spent the last 40 years waiting for the chance to steal it, assuming that the dogsled had something valuable on it. At the end, we learn that it was just a change of clothes, some prospecting gear, and a box of chocolates, though they're of great sentimental value to Scrooge.

Chapter 9: The Billionaire of Dismal Downs

Released: Sweden- November 1993, United States- August 1995Dates:1898-1902

After his various businesses in Whitehorse turn him from a millionaire into a billionaire, Scrooge finally returns home to his father and sisters (now living in Castle McDuck) to make his ancestral Scotland the home base for his planned worldwide financial empire. Two days among the locals, their customs, and their games, however, make Scrooge feel so out of place that he doesn't think he could ever prosper here. He tells his family about the land he bought in some settlement called Duckburg and asks them to move with him to America. His sisters are only too eager to go, but his father claims he's too old to move again. He agrees Scrooge has outgrown the life they knew in Dismal Downs but tells his children to go start a new life in America without him. The next morning, the McDuck siblings unknowingly wave good-bye to the spirits of their parents before they go to eternal rest in an ending Don Rosa was surprised got past the radar.

This chapter provides examples of:

Bullying a Dragon: Soapy Slick refuses to sign a receipt to prove that Scrooge's debt has been paid for and insults him in the process, forgetting that he's talking to the "King of the Klondike". One punch to the stomach latter, and the receipt is signed.

Continuity Nod: Related to the above; Scrooge buries a cache of nuggets in the ground before leaving his claim "in case of emergency", the cache that Goldie would find in the first story featuring her by Carl Barks.

Covered in Mud: Scrooge jumps into a quicksand bog to retrieve a two shilling golf ball.

Died Happily Ever After: Fergus dies peacefully in his sleep the day Scrooge and his sisters set out to Duckburg. His spirit, along with their mother, sees the siblings off before happily departing to the afterlife.

Eat the Rich: The people of Dismal Downs antagonize Scrooge because of their jalousy and a perceived slight from his part.

Scrooge: The girl — I mean, the land — is in the state of Goldiesota — I mean Calisota — in a small settlement called Goldieburg — I mean Duckburg! Drat!

Ghost Reunion Ending: At the end of the chapter "The Billionaire of Dismal Downs", the spirits of Scrooge's parents look at him as Scrooge and his sisters leave their ancestral home and reunite with one of their ancestors before passing on.

Grave-Marking Scene: Upon returning to the McDuck ancestral castle with his father and sisters, Scrooge takes a quiet moment to visit his mother's grave.

Hypocrite: The people of Dismal Downs somehow complain about Scrooge having a bad temper when they started the argument first.

Iconic Outfit: Scrooge obtains his famous red coat in a hilariously low key Inversion of the Suit-Up of Destiny. A cheapstake salesman offers him 5 British pounds and the red coat for a fancy suit he got for free, of course Scrooge takes the quids.

Loan Shark: Downplayed, Scrooge's prices for a loan are outrageously high (half of one's gold in a claim) but he's honest about it, and actually makes sure that when someone asks for a loan, his employees will be paid fairly.

Never Accepted in His Hometown: The Townspeople resent Scrooge for his newfound wealth, and Scrooge in turn comes to despise them for their hostility.

Obfuscating Stupidity: Scrooge participates in a sheep clipping contest where his long-time enemy Argus Whiskerville is holding the sheep. Scrooge plays the overeager contestant part to shave not only the sheep, but also Argus' beard and hair and get away with it.

Pooled Funds: Scrooge decides to indulge in it and brings barrels of money wherever he goes. His family thinks he's eccentric at best, a loon at worst.

Self-Made Man: After striking it rich thanks to his efforts and brains, Scrooge becomes a millionaire by tackling several businesses at the same time.

Shout-Out: Right after a Scottish man has insulted Scrooge, he responds with "grumble Peasant!"

Stranger in a Familiar Land: Although Scrooge spent his time in Scotland, a lifetime of tribulations around the world changed him too much to fit in his native town.

Suckiness Is Painful: In the Highland Games, singing good poetry is one way to gather points, but Scrooge's song is so bad, the female judges faint.

Together in Death: It turns out that Scrooge's father had passed away in the night, and it was his spirit bidding him goodbye from the window. He's reunited with Scrooge's mother, who had died several years before.

Unskilled, but Strong: Scrooge's physical prowess could make him win the Highland Games by a landslide, but unfortunately for him, there are rules and the contest also requires skill in areas Scrooge never trained. For instance, a fishing competition requires the use of a rod whereas Scrooge uses his hands alone.

Chapter 10: The Invader of Fort Duckburg

Released: Iceland- March 1994, United States- October 1995Dates:1902

Waiting for Scrooge in Duckburg, Calisota is an unwelcome reunion with the Beagle Boys and a little scuffle with Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders before convincing them he's not a foreign invader. Eventually, he secures his land on Killmotor Hill (formerly Killmule Hill) and begins construction of his money bin. Meanwhile, Hortense hits it off with the only person in the world who can match her temper, Quackmore Duck.

Don Rosa thought this chapter turned out the best because it only had to cover a timespan of a few days and thus had the best pacing in the series.

Birds of a Feather: Quackmore and Hortense quickly fall in love because they realize that they are equally foul-tempered. In fact, their very first interaction is a heated argument that almost immediately turns into a Love at First Sight experience for them both.

Foreshadowing: The Junior Woodchucks appear as a small trio of boy-scouts, and they mention having to find a way to reduce their Guidebook's size.

Gondor Calls for Aid: The Junior Woodchucks, evicted from their fort by who they think is an enemy agent from Scotland, send a telegraph to the authorities for help. At the other end of their message is Theodore Roosevelt, who immediately goes to Duckburg with an army to repel the foreign invader.

Impact Silhouette: When Scrooge's car crashes into a corn field, it cuts a distinct silhouette amongst the plants.

Instantly Proven Wrong: When Scrooge unwittingly finds the Beagle Boys, they deny having stolen one given animal from neighbouring farmers, only for said animal to cry.

Lamarck Was Right: We see Gladstone's mother and it looks like he inherited his good luck from his mother. Likewise, Hortense meets the equally irascible Quackmore, and their future romance will result in Donald Duck.

The Siege: Scrooge's fort at the top of Killmotor Hill is assieged by the United States army.

Scrooge tells Donald and the triplets about the "worst bargain I ever made!" He happens to try excavating for gold in Panama at the same time the Panama Canal is under construction. Unfortunately for world progress, Scrooge owns the mountain right in the Canal's path and refuses to sell, even to his old friend President Roosevelt, for anything short of the U.S. Treasury. One avoided international incident and several series of steam-shoveling hijinks later, Scrooge ends up unconscious while he and Teddy are supposed to be making the deal for his mountain, so his sisters make it for him: they trade Scrooge's gold claim for a teddy bear.

Donald is thrilled to hear how his mother got the best of Scrooge. His ecstasy quickly ends when the boys realize Scrooge doesn't own just any old teddy bear but the first teddy bear ever made... the "world's most valuable toy." Even when Scrooge McDuck loses, he wins.

Funny Background Event: While Scrooge and Theodor Roosevelt are discussing, Hortense and Matilda can be seen chasing two cowboys in the background, including chopping down the tree they try to hide in.

Released: Iceland- April 1994, United States- December 1995Dates:1909-1930

This is the chapter where Don Rosa had to address a Noodle Incident most Scrooge fans try to ignore: the story from Voodoo Hoodoo about how Scrooge hired a band of thugs to chase an African tribe off their land so he could use it for a rubber plantation — a blatantly criminal, despicable, completely unjustifiable act not at all in sync with making money "square." Don Rosa initially considered just ignoring this story altogether, dismissing it on the grounds of Characterization Marches On. But after closer consideration, he instead decided to make it the turning point in Scrooge's life — the trigger that set him down the road of greed and cynicism toward becoming the hardened, villainous character he was when Barks first introduced him to the world. After crossing the line he swore never to cross since he earned his #1 Dime, Scrooge avoids Duckburg and his sisters for 23 years. When he returns, he has achieved his dream of becoming the richest man in the world, but loses his family in the process, after meeting his nephew for the first and last time for 17 years.

Don Rosa was double burdened by having to cover the longest timespan of any chapter along with portraying his hero as an unscrupulous robber baron. You can read what the experience was like for him here.

This chapter provides examples of:

Attention Deficit Oh Shiny: Scrooge takes 20 years to go back to Duckburg and reconciliate with his family because he smells business oportunities everywhere.

Covers Always Lie: This chapter's cover shows Scrooge escaping from the sinking Titanic by carefully stepping on floating pieces of iceberg. What happened in the story is much less awesome - he escaped in one of the lifeboats.

Darkest Hour: One of the darkest days of the story is when Scrooge decides to take something he wants illegally and by force, driving a whole village away from their rightful land.

Downer Ending: Although Scrooge finally becomes the richest duck in the world, he lost everything that once meant something to him in the process. He breaks with his family and becomes a lonely miser. His final victory laugh reads less like a moment of joy and more as a mad cackle.

Scrooge: Why should I have to be the only honest man in this cockeyed world?

Floating Advice Reminders: Scrooge struggles with his younger selves for the justification of his odious acts. An image of his dead father reminds him that self-respect should be what drives him to act, not greed.

Ignored Epiphany: The end of Scrooge's arc to full-on villain concludes with several fleeting moments where he realizes how badly he screwed up with his family in his quest for riches. If only the "Roster of the Rich" (revealing that he is now the wealthiest person on the planet) hadn't caught his eye and made him forget all about it.

Implacable Man: Bombie the Zombie is told to follow Scrooge forever until he is killed; not even having to cross entire oceans stops him.

Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Scrooge becomes meaner and more obsessed by money the richer he gets, to the point that when he has a change of heart and tries to reconciliate with his family, his newly discovered status as richest man in the world distracts him away from his family for 20 years.

Land of Tulips and Windmills: During a Travel Montage showing Scrooge's business dealings around the world, there's a panel where he's in the Netherlands with a windmill in the background. Somehow he managed to sell the locals wind.

Literal Ass-Kicking: Child-aged Donald to Scrooge upon their first meeting. (Scrooge gets the chance to return the favor in the next chapter, though.)

Lonely at the Top: The ending. Scrooge doesn't realize it yet, but Hortense knows all too well that all her brother is now left with is his money.

My God, What Have I Done?: Shouted word by word when Scrooge repents from having driven a village of autochtones away from their lands.

My Greatest Failure: Scrooges is not the least bit proud of the one time he gained something in a villainous way.

No Endor Holocaust: The sinking of the RMS Titanic is presented mainly as the background to one of the zombie's chases after Scrooge, not looking like the tragic disaster which killed 1503 people at all. Even the casual way Scrooge found himself a place in a lifeboat, even though he was neither a woman nor a child, makes the whole thing less tragic.

Shout-Out: The leader of the African tribe shouts "M'gawa niktimba!", a phrase lifted from the Johnny WeissmullerTarzan films where it was a made-up exotic phrase used on several different occasions to mean whatever was needed for the script. Here it apparently means roughly "Grab him, stick him into the most embarrassing getup you can think of and then throw him out."

Hortense: Getting richer and richer, and meaner and ornerier! That's all you do.

Unscrupulous Hero: Scrooge has developed into one —and even a borderline Villain Protagonist— by this story. His life experiences have hardened him to the point that he's become a corrupt robber baron, he mistreats his family, and only derives joy from getting even richer. He remains a good guy only because of his brief but ignored epiphany moments.

Unwitting Instigator of Doom: It's implied that Scrooge is indirectly responsible for the sinking of the Titanic, as the iceberg just so happened to be the same piece of Arctic ice Bombie the Zombie fell into several years prior, and the Voodoo curse continually pulled him to Scrooge's location, which just so happened to be the Titanic.

Released: Iceland- May 1994, United States- February 1996Dates:Christmas 1947

The conclusion of TLaToSM picks up right before the end of Barks' Christmas on Bear Mountain, when Donald Duck and his nephews meet their Uncle Scrooge for the first time. At first, they don't believe the legends about his worldwide adventures or a bin full of three cubic acres of money, so Scrooge opens the bin up for the first time in five years and shows them his fortune, along with his famous Lucky—er, #1 Dime. ("'Lucky dime!' How @#*% insulting!") The tour is interrupted by a new generation of Beagle Boys, giving Scrooge the perfect chance to show Donald and the boys what he's really made of.

Even after the Beagle Boys are caught and arrested, Scrooge (very rightly) doesn't believe for a minute that he's seen the last of them this time. He looks forward to many future adventures with his new family. Huey, Dewey, and Louie are as excited at the thought as Scrooge, but Donald doesn't see anything interesting about going "on a trek to some dusty warehouse to look for a long-lost ledger." Good thing you won't be doing any of that, then...

Donald: You see what you've done? You li'l squirts have this poor old man all agitated! Scrooge: I do seem to recall a li'l squirt who agitated part of me some years ago... Donald: WAK!Scrooge: Thank you, nephew! I almost feel like... like me again! Donald:Don't mention it.

An Ass-Kicking Christmas: In addition to the literal example to Donald, Scrooge taking down the Beagle Boys as they attempt to relieve him of most of his wealth is certainly applicable.

Back for the Finale: Blackheart Beagle returns some 40 years after Scrooge last saw him during the invasion of Fort Duckburg by Teddy Roosevelt, and he's brought his grandsons with him as the new Beagle Boys.

Earn Your Happy Ending: Scrooge regains his passion for life and adventure, and is able to start again with something he never had before - his family at his side.

Retcon: Scrooge starts out very tired and bitter, contradicting his joyful and excited behavior he was in from the end of the Bear Mountain story after witnessing the events at his cabin. In his commentary for the chapter, Don Rosa handwaves it as the long car ride home from the cabin and resulting lack of sleep that caused his brief relapse in attitude.

Rule of Funny: In his commentary Don Rosa admits that he was uneasy about putting the Will Eisner award among Scrooge's trophies as it was from 1995, far after where the story was set. He then says that he's overthinking such a small throwaway gag, and compares it to Roger Rabbit slipping his hand out of Handcuffs. He says he's trying to make his story as historically accurate as possible, but will let slip a few gags for humors sake.

Donald: Let's just humor him! All this hokey junk proves he's... well... eccentric!(points to a portrait of Scrooge from 1897) See? One of those gag photos they make for tourists! Wotta phony scene! Dewey: Hm. Looks real to me! (Donald turns to a display holding the Will Eisner Comics Industry Award for The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck) Donald: Ha! Then how do you explain this?! Obviously all fakes!

Uncanny Atmosphere: On the way to the money bin, the ducks notice and comment on the oddity of the presence of sidewalk Santas, even though there aren't many shoppers on Christmas Day. They turn out to be the Beagle Boys in disguise, who were following them under suspicion of the truth about the bin having three cubic acres of cash.

The Dream of a Lifetime

Released: Norway- December 2002, United States- May 2004Dates:Present

A Mental Time Travel epilogue. The Beagle Boys use an invention of Gyro's to infiltrate Scrooge's mind while he's dreaming to find the combination to his money bin. Donald has to go into Scrooge's dreams to try to stop them and ends up on a fast-paced ride through Scrooge's favorite memories of his life. To the Beagles' frustration, there's no money in them! Even in his sleep, Scrooge McDuck is an unquenchable adrenalinejunkie.

This chapter provides examples of:

As You Know: Justified because the Beagle Boys are dumb enough to forget the plan in the middle of putting it into action.

Bedtime Brainwashing: Huey, Dewey and Louie try to influence Scrooge's dreams to give him and Donald an advantage (like using coffee mugs to mimic the sound of hooves so horses appear). Each attempt backfires (like making it rain coffee mugs instead)... Until the smell of the Goose Egg Nugget gets him to dream about his time in Klondike.

Bullying a Dragon: When the last remaining Beagle Boy still inside Scrooge's mind gets sick of trying to trick Scrooge into revealing the codes to his vault, and tries to use brute force instead. Unfortunately, at that point they're in Scrooge's dream about the events of Hearts of the Yukon, and as Donald points out, THIS Scrooge isn't an 80 year old business man; he's the King of the Klondike, the man who tamed White Agony Creek, and took out a riverboat full of claim jumpers by himself. Cue Oh, Crap! moment from the Beagle Boy just as Scrooge is turning red from fury.

Cannot Tell a Lie: Scrooge can't not answer the Beagle Boys when they ask for his code. The explanation for this is that asking someone a question in their dream makes them think of the answer, and since the dream is what they're thinking...

Crashing Dreams: They try to take advantage of this in order to help Donald and Scrooge fight the Beagle boys, with several funny results.

For Want of a Nail: Scrooge has had the same dream many times, right as he's about to confront Goldie in the burning Dawson Saloon, only to be knocked out, thus never letting them get together (which is what happened in real life); it always ends the same way, realistically, until Donald accidentally changes it, and Scrooge gets to talk to Goldie for the first time. After leaving that dream, Donald realizes the importance of the moment and convinces the nephews not to interrupt it by waking up the old man. As Donald, Gyro and the nephews leave the room, several tears roll down the smiling Scrooge's cheeks.

Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: Hilariously, Scrooge and Dream!Goldie invoke this themselves when they finally reunite in Scrooge's Klondike dream only to realize Donald is watching them with great interest. Dream!Goldie points out a lever to Scrooge to which he pulls while giving his nephew a stare that just says "Leave us the @%*# alone!".

No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: What happens to the last Beagle Boy after he pisses off Scrooge in the Klondike dream. Cue him crying afterwards about how he can't pick on someone TOUGHER than him, and that it's unfair to bullies.

Tears of Joy: Scrooge cries these when he finally dreams about his and Goldie's reunion.

This Is Gonna Suck: Donald's reaction when he finds out that one of Scrooge's dreams is taking place on the Titanic.

Your Mind Makes It Real: According to Gyro, you appear in the dream as "your mental image of yourself." So when Scrooge is dreaming about something that happened when he was 10-years-old, he has the strength and skills of a 10-year-old boy (despite retaining all his memories). Hence why, to enable Scrooge to beat the Beagle Boys, the kids had to get him to dream about a time when he was the unbeatable King of the Klondike — physical rules shouldn't apply, but Scrooge can't be at his toughest unless he dreams of himself while he was at his toughest in reality.

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